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It is unlikely to happen again this year
as doubts about the legs of the housing recovery keep coming up, but 2013 was
an excellent year to be the CEO of a publicly-traded homebuilder because pay
raises averaged 37% and hit a median of $7.9 million. That still does not touch 2005's record-high
median of $11.3 million, but it's well above 2012, according to figures
from FPL Associates, a compensation consulting firm that focuses on the
construction industry. The highest total compensation – which adds
bonuses and incentive grants to base salary – in 2013 was $13.6 million
for Stuart Miller at Lenna, and the lowest was $4 million for Allan Merrill at
Beazer Homes USA. (From Construction Dive) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

The lack of workers for residential construction has become
"substantially more widespread," leading homebuilders to raise home
prices, according to a survey of the National Association of Home Builders. The
survey found that about 2 in 3 homebuilders pays higher wages due to the
shortage, which leads many of them to raise prices. When it comes to
subcontracting work, about 63% of builders surveyed say they have experienced a
shortage of rough carpenters. (From NRCA) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

A licensed
general contractor does not have to identify the architect in its design-build
contract - DBPR oversteps its authority in sanctioning contractor.
As reported last
month, the Board of Architecture and Interior Design entered a final
administrative order imposing a fine of $10,000 and costs of $6,867.53 on a
licensed general contractor for not identifying its intended architect before
offering the design-build services. The
project was an interior partition wall with a total contract price of
$5,900. The Third District Court of
Appeal reversed on the grounds the Board’s interpretation of the statute was
erroneous; there is no requirement in Florida law that requires a licensed
contractor to identify the architect it intends to use - it is sufficient that
the architect hired by the design-build contractor is licensed as an architect. The
board’s motion for rehearing based on an alleged factual distinction that the contractor hired an
engineer to prepare the drawings and speci…

The Highway Trust Fund, teetering along with
inadequate funding, took a detour on the road to recovery when the Senate voted
Wednesday for a shorter "patch" than what the House had already
approved. The Senate wants to put $8 billion into the
trust fund to get it through December after it essentially runs out of money
for any new projects by the end of next month, differing from the House's $10.8
billion plan to go through May. Both chambers are supposed to leave at this
week's end for a month-long recess. (From Construction Dive) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

As the Minnesota
Legislature wrapped up its session, Gov. Mark Dayton was able to fend off one
last effort to repeal a law that will require sprinkler systems in new homes
4,500 square feet or greater after the end of this year. The Builders
Association of the Twin Cities opposed the requirement, citing costs it
said would be much higher than the average $4,200 per house figure cited by
proponents. Firefighters pushed
for adoption of the law, saying new building materials used in homes burn
faster than the materials they replace and are more dangerous to occupants if
there is a fire. (From Construction Dive) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Construction workers need to fill out time cards so they can get
paid, but collecting more than just total hours can make the cards a rich
source of information for tracking cost and progress of a job. The technique involves reporting hours by cost code within the
job – for example setting up for a concrete pour, doing it and cleaning up
afterward. The estimator, project manager
and foreman for a job work together to decide what information needs to be
collected to give them the insights they need as work progresses. (From Construction Dive) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Partial repairs to the roof
of the historic Menard County Courthouse in Illinois have helped stop leaks. A
section of the roof on the 118-year-old building has new metal shingles and
copper work, which cost more than $323,000. The leaky courthouse dome has not
yet been repaired because the work could cost more than half a million dollars,
said Menard County coordinator Steve Duncan. (From NRCA) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Court defers
to arbitration panel’s implied finding that the contract was enforceable even
though illegal because contractor was not licensed at the time of
contracting.
An unlicensed
contractor recorded a claim of lien against an owner and filed a demand for
arbitration pursuant to the contract.
Owner answered and raised the defense that the contract was
unenforceable because the contractor was unlicensed. Owner also filed a state court declaratory
judgment action challenging the claim of lien on the enforceability issue, but
that action was stayed because of the pending arbitration. Arbitration panel found in favor of
contractor in an order that did not directly address the enforceability issue
and the trial court affirmed the award, entered judgment for the amount awarded
plus attorneys’ fees under section 713.29, and enforced the lien. The Third
District Court of Appeal affirmed in all respects.The court found that “determination of the legality of the contract was a
decision …

A rubber membrane is being
installed over the roof of the Athletic, Recreation and Community Center at
Hagerstown Community College in Maryland. The membrane is less expensive than a
roof replacement that could cost between $1.5 million and $1.8 million. The
project costs $842,600 and includes installation of a roof drainage system. (From NRCA) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Both the 10-city and 20-city reports from the
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices of May home prices showed the smallest
year-over-year gains since February 2013. The indices were up 9.4% and 9.3%, respectively, but David M.
Blitzer, who chairs the Index Committee at the report's owner, S&P Dow
Jones Indices, said those numbers were "well below expectations." Seasonally adjusted, prices
slipped from April, and among the Case-Shiller cities, Charlotte,
North Carolina, was the only one that had a bigger year-over-year gain than it
had in April.

Thanks to public-private partnerships and other creative ways to
get needed infrastructure work done, the civil and heavy construction sector is
looking for a range of people with the training and expertise the companies
need to meet demand for their services. For job applicants, salaries are rising as companies seek
project managers, operations managers, project engineers, superintendents and
schedulers, according to recruiting company Kimmel Associates. The flip side for
candidates is that companies are scrutinizing candidates carefully before
hiring, looking closely at expertise and experience because getting jobs done
is more important than quibbling over salaries. (From Construction Dive) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Fresh from its $6 billion buy-out of URS Corp, Aecom is adding
construction management capabilities to its portfolio by buying Hunt
Construction Group. Hunt, which has headquarters in both Indianapolis and in
Scottsdale, Arizona, is privately held, and no one was disclosing financial
terms, but Michael S. Burke, Aecom's chief executive, said that Hunt and
Aecom together "have helped create more than two-thirds of all the major
league sports arenas in the country." Hunt, which had revenues of $1.2 billion in its last year, has
been largely U.S.-based and Aecom has done 60% of its business in foreign
countries, so the purchase brings a wealth of U.S. business contracts and an
established domestic reputation. (From Construction Dive) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Insurance company for
contractor has duty to defend but no duty to indemnify for settlement.
The
Court stated that the duty to defend is greater than the duty to indemnify, the
insurer must defend “even if
the allegations in the complaint are factually incorrect or meritless,” and doubts are resolved in favor of the
insured, and then held that the allegation that there was “damage to other property” was sufficient to trigger the duty
to defend.
The
Court stated the duty to indemnify is narrower than the duty to defend, is
dependent on the final judgment or
final resolution of the claim, and requires the insured to “demonstrate that it suffered a loss
under the policy.” It appears that the
Court found no evidence in the
record of “damage to other property” despite Contractor’s evidence of engineering reports in the record.

States may have an easier
time complying with the Environmental Protection Agency's carbon emissions
proposal as more utilities produce renewable energy and become more
energy-efficient, according to a study from advocacy group Ceres. The EPA
allows states to come up with their own carbon reduction plans that can use
renewable fuels, energy-efficiency programs and other sources of clean energy.
The report asserts that states could go "beyond the fence" in clean
energy investments without carrying a high cost on utilities. (From NRCA) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Over the course of the next
few years, the improving economy could help boost construction spending, making
it possible for U.S. total construction starts to reach $600 billion by 2016
and possibly $700 billion by 2018, according to Alex Carrick, chief economist
for CanaData, a division of Reed Construction Data. Residential starts, tower
construction and the energy sector's capital expansions are expected to
contribute to play a big role. Sales of building materials are also expected to
surge. (From NRCA) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

To keep sales growing, D.R. Horton – which closes more
sales than any other American home builder – has been using incentives to get
buyers to sign, whether upgrades or help with closing costs or others. As the home-building market squeezes out the
last price increases it is likely to be able to get for a while, other builders
may follow suit to keep turn shoppers into buyers. The next stage of the housing recovery will,
UBS analyst David Goldberg said, need the first-time home buyers who have been
reported M.I.A. because wages have not gone up even though hiring has
and banks remain fearful of being anything less than stringent in making mortgage
loans. Horton's CEO, Donald Tomnitz, said he sees no problem
with profit dropping from 22.5% to 20.7% when that produces a 25% increase in
sales. He also said 20% profit is more normal for the home-building industry,
but investors apparently did not want a history lesson, and Horton sank 11.5%. (From Construction Dive) Trenton H. Cotney…

Business units of the nation's 10th-largest electrical
contractor, the family-owned Truland Group, have filed for bankruptcy in
federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, and the company has shut down.
Truland reportedly had a lot of work in the Washington, D.C. area, but it
is unclear how many projects it had going when it stopped operations the day
before the court filing. (From Construction Dive) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Supreme Court of Florida
concludes the trial court cannot set aside an arbitrator’s award based on the claim that an
arbitrator’s construction of a contract renders it illegal.
This
case from the Supreme Court of Florida presents an interesting survey of the
present state of the law
relating to the authority of arbitrators and review of arbitration awards. The
following rules are gleaned from the case:
● the statutory grounds for modification
or vacation of an arbitrator’s award are exclusive and cannot be supplemented
by contract or by public policy;
● an arbitrator’s award cannot be
modified or vacated based on “manifest disregard of the law,” or, as the Court
phrased it, “mere errors of law;”
● an arbitrator’s award cannot be
modified or vacated based on a claim of contract illegality;
● the arbitrator and not the trial
court, either before or after arbitration, determines…

Vinton Roofing in Vinton, Va., sponsors a
project called "The Roof Over My Head," which replaces one roof each
year free of charge for people who cannot afford to hire a contractor. This
year, the company teamed up with the Women Entrepreneurs of the Roanoke Valley
to replace a roof for two elderly brothers in Roanoke, Va. "Everyone who
owns a small business has some kind of service or skill that can benefit
someone who just needs a break," said Joy Payne﻿, co-owner of Vinton
Roofing. (From NRCA) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

Tishman Speyer plans to build a 61-story, $3.2
billion tower within the Hudson Yards project in New York. The company hopes to start construction
next year and says 7,611 construction jobs would be created during the
four-year build-out of the 2.6 million square-foot office tower. Tishman is
looking for $170 million in tax breaks, and a city agency is expected to vote
on that later this week. The tower is separate from Related's plans for Hudson
Yards. (From NRCA) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com

The "pinwheel-shaped kinetic roof" to
top the planned Atlanta Falcons arena in Georgia would set the stadium apart
from its counterparts, Nadine Post writes. The roof will have three layers: a
bottom layer with downward-sloping triangular panels, a flat
"plane-in" level and a retractable top level. The structure could be
opened and closed in response to the weather. (From NRCA) Trenton H. CotneyFlorida Bar Certified Construction LawyerTrent Cotney, P.A.1211 N Franklin StTampa, FL 33602www.trentcotney.com